Sara Tavares
A Portuguese singer of Cape Verdean descent, Sara Tavares makes gentle, sensual music that reflects the cosmopolitanism of Lisbon. The tunes on her latest album, Balancê (Times Square), casually skip between languages (Portuguese, English, various African tongues) and mix styles (lulling dance rhythms from former Portuguese colonies Cape Verde, Angola, and Brazil, as well as American R & B). Tavares produced the album herself, with obvious attention to detail; its pan-ethnic pop puts her in the company of several other emerging female artists (Angelique Kidjo, Lura, Les Nubians) whose music seems aimed at curious urban sophisticates rather than serious students of regional traditions.